As time went on, one thing became clear - cooking really was a superpower.
Kaitlyn flipped a few bite-sized pieces of breaded chicken in the pan before her, shallow-frying them. Further along the counter, the last batch of broccoli florets broiled in the oven. A rice cooker filled to the brim with fluffy white grains clicked occasionally as it kept its contents warm.
Perfect. This is done. Placing the chicken on a towel-lined plate to drain, she waited for the oil to reheat before popping on the next batch. People should be showing up any minute now…
“Hey, Kate!”
Heather’s enthusiastic grin popped around the corner. She inhaled deeply with a satisfied smile. “Omigosh, that smells soooo good already!”
Kaitlyn grinned. “It’ll be ready soon. Wait till you guys try it with the sauce. I think I’m really onto something this time.”
“Oh stopppp, you’re gonna make me hungrier!” The girl whined with a mock pout. “Can’t I just try some now? Like, no one would even know…”
“Nope, it’s not ready. You have to wait.” Kaitlyn chastised her roommate.
“Ugh, fineeeee.”
The girl plopped into a nearby chair. The seasons hadn’t begun to fully change yet, meaning she could still get away with wearing a lacy spaghetti strap tank top and cutoff shorts. It would be some weeks yet until that choice began to raise eyebrows and test Heather’s considerable tolerance for cold.
The pair chatted idly as Kaitlyn continued frying chicken. Before long though, the rest of their suitemates began to trickle into the common area excitedly. Kaitlyn noted each face, trying to greet them by name as they entered. It proved to be a great memory exercise.
The oven dinged just as she finished up the last of the chicken. “Ok! Food’s ready, everyone. Plates are over there, and there’s sauce in the little measuring cup. Hopefully I made enough…”
“No matter how much you make, it’s all gonna be gone in a minute.” One of the girls snickered. “Especially with Val here.”
“Excuse me! You were the one with three slices of pizza at lunch!”
“Three? Those are rookie numbers. My boyfriend regularly puts down five.”
“How?!”
“I can’t even stomach that much grease.”
“Ugh, I know. The hawaiian ones aren’t so bad though…”
The girls chatted companionably as they lined up for food, each thanking Kaitlyn as they passed. Eventually, it came time to serve herself. The plates of chicken and broccoli still contained a respectable amount of food, maybe even enough for seconds.
Thank goodness they eat less than cross country runners. Kaitlyn let out a silent sigh of gratitude. I don’t know how I’d manage otherwise. Space and cooking capacity is already an issue. If I had to make more food than this, I’d definitely need to figure something out.
What had started as simple introductions and sharing extra cookies had quickly spiraled out into a more regular gathering centered around Kaitlyn’s cooking. Apparently, one of her suitemates not only owned a car but also worked at a grocery store off campus. Between that and everyone’s willingness to chip in for ingredient costs, these group dinners had quickly become a perfect opportunity for her to practice cooking for a crowd.
At least I don’t have to organize it myself anymore. She settled into a chair between Heather and a red-haired girl - Emily, she was pretty sure. Passing that off to Heather was a great idea. Now I get all the benefits of hanging out with people and cooking without having to worry about the nitty gritty every loop.
Digging in, Kaitlyn evaluated her latest dish: orange chicken with rice and a side of lemon-garlic broccoli. Leaving the chicken and sauce separate had managed to keep the breading pleasantly crunchy until the last moment. The chicken tasted divine, a perfect blend of orange juice and zest with a strong hit of spicy ginger. Even the broccoli ended up better than she’d expected considering it had cooled down significantly.
The conversations fell into a lull as the girls ate their meals. Sounds of forks against plates and occasional compliments filled the common room. Soon enough, freshly emptied plates and satisfied smiles gave way to casual conversation.
“How are classes treating you, Kate?”
“Ah, you know.” She scratched her head in embarrassment. “They’re going ok. Writing is my big focus right now.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d just managed to finish up Chemistry the previous loop, marking one more class off her to-do list. All that remained were Writing, Statistics, and the dreaded Calculus.
Calculus won’t be for another few loops though. I’m up to Pre-Calc with Philip, and it seems like it might take a little to get through that. Compared to that, Writing’s practically a breath of fresh air.
“Ugh, I hate the writing class,” another girl piped up. “It’s so hard! Aren’t required courses like that supposed to be freebies?”
“I don’t know if Hartland knows what a freebie is…” Another girl chuckled as Kaitlyn nodded solemnly. You have no idea how true that is. At least it’s not just me.
“Writing’s hard, but it’s got nothing on Psych,” Heather chimed in. “Jade, aren’t you taking that one too?”
“Ugh, yeah. You lucked out getting Gordon Heather, my professor’s even worse…”
Kaitlyn allowed herself to simply enjoy the gathering. At times she listened, fading into the background, while at others she chose to actively participate and speak up. The whole thing felt like great practice of her social skills. More than that though, it helped to provide something else she’d been craving - a feeling of belonging.
I know they’ll all forget this, of course. Like everyone else. The thought sent a pang of loss through her chest. But they’ll still be right here next time around. Just a nice group of friends I can fit into without too many strings attached. I mean, even if I’m not making any deep connections… while I’m here, it feels a bit less lonely than it could.
“Oh! By the way, Kaitlyn.” One of the girls - Sam, that was her name - leaned forward. “I wanted to ask. It’s my boyfriend’s birthday next week. Can I like, pay you to make a cake for him?”
Kaitlyn blinked. “Pay me?”
“Yeah! I mean, you’re great at making stuff.” Sam nodded toward her own empty plate. “I could just bug Lyra to buy something at the store, but well, I’d rather ask you. If you’re down, of course.”
“You don’t have to pay me!” Kaitlyn objected. “I’m mean, if you just help me get ingredients–”
“Nope.” The girl shook her head. “You put in way too much effort for that, and the stuff you make is really good. Heck, if you started selling meals like this, I’d totally buy them!”
A chorus of agreement sounded from around the table. Kaitlyn simply stared in confusion. Ok. I know I’ve gotten better at cooking and baking, but people paying me? That’s just absurd. Could I actually make money like this?
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
If that was the case, then it might be a gamechanger. Additional money would mean more tutoring sessions with Philip or buying better equipment. Something that she couldn’t currently manage - Chella’s only had so many shifts available, after all.
But what if the game isn’t ok with this? The memory of men in black uniforms bursting into her dorm still gave her shivers. Would this be enough to get Enforcers coming down on me again? No way, right?
“I… I don’t know…”
“Oh, just say yes Kate!” Heather shook her shoulder. “You deserve it! Plus, you’d really be doing Sam a favor. Right Sam?”
“Right.”
After a few moments of deliberation, Kaitlyn sighed. I guess there’s only one way to find out. Maybe this will be small-time enough that the game won’t care. Hopefully.
“Ok. I’ll try.”
“Awesome! Thanks, Kaitlyn.” Sam grinned. “I’m excited to see what you make!”
The sheer excitement on the girl’s face made Kaitlyn smile. I’ll move more slowly this time. First just making things when people ask, then maybe expand a little each loop. Who knows, maybe I actually can start selling meals as a little business. Or even put some of Scarra’s training to better use around here.
As Kaitlyn continued chatting with her suitemates, recipe ideas and plans for her future cooking exploits swirled in her head. One day, maybe she’d even introduce the dorm to restaurant-quality tiramisu. The idea filled her with anticipation.
***
The fluorescent lights of the lab glowed silently overhead, illuminating the space with a soft white glow. Below, A large rectangular table enclosed by a clear box whirred quietly as purified air circulated within. The front panel of the box hung open on silver hinges, allowing Kaitlyn’s arms to reach inside.
Her blue-gloved hands reached for another pile of circular plastic dishes stacked atop each other. Giving the bottle of yellowish liquid in her other hand a final swirl, she opened it and began to pour with efficient, practiced movements. Each plate was quickly filled with a scant amount of the liquid, just enough to nearly cover the bottom. She started from the base of the tall stack and moved upward, finishing off with a gentle swirl to ensure the liquid completely covered each plate’s bottom.
Satisfied, she took the plates and stacked them at the back of the clean hood to dry with the rest. She made sure to not let her hands or the white sleeves of her lab coat pass over their surfaces. That mistake all but guaranteed fuzzy mold and opaque little bacterial colonies would ruin her work. At least, it had in the past.
With the last stack finished, Kaitlyn leaned back in her chair and sighed. Done. Shouldn’t have to worry about that for another few weeks.
It turned out that lab work involved a lot of relatively boring, repetitive tasks. Tasks like pouring plates and making growth media - the jelly-like solutions that bacteria and plants grew on. In the first few loops this was especially true, even if she hadn’t quite realized it. At that point everything was new and interesting, filled with wonder and novelty. Even the most simple stuff like this had a lot of little quirks and things to be aware of that she hadn’t initially considered. Now that she had ingrained much of that into habit though, all that remained were the menial tasks themselves.
It wasn’t all bad though. She glanced toward her plates, the clear yellowish liquid turning slightly opaque as it solidified. Stuff like this was necessary in order to run the real experiments. And the faster she got it done, the more likely that she could shadow or participate in one of those. A bit of experimenting with her schedule each loop had allowed her to pick up and observe different kinds of experiments from Elliot, Christa, and even Freddy.
The resets do especially suck here, though. Kaitlyn stretched, rolling her shoulders. One semester isn’t a long time to be in a lab. There’s only so much you can do, not to mention I’ve gotta do a lot of trust building each time. To show that I’m competent. Not that I even WAS competent at first, but I definitely am now.
As she waited, she spared a glance around the lab. The place appeared mostly empty at the moment. Christa had headed to the growth chamber a while back, while Freddy was once again fussing over some pollen experiment in the microscope room. She still had no idea what he did, really. He hadn’t been the most helpful in explaining his project unlike the other two.
Restless, Kaitlyn pushed back from the hood and headed toward the lab’s only other occupant - Elliot. The lanky undergrad sat at his bench, fiery hair bound back and away from his face.
“Is there anything you need, Elliot?”
He glanced up from a collection of tubes and popped a headphone out of his ear. “Hmm?”
“Do you need anything?”
He glanced around to check for his labmates. “Have you checked with Freddy?”
Kaitlyn nodded. “He’s doing microscope stuff again.”
“Ah. Best not to bother him, then.” Elliot smirked. “Don’t mind him. Guy’s kinda like a homing missile when it comes to his projects. He forgets about everything else - even explaining himself. So don’t take it personally.”
The guy pushed back from his bench with a sigh. “Unfortunately, I’m pretty good myself. I’m actually about to head to lunch now that I got these cultures set up. Want to go with?”
Kaitlyn shrugged. “Sure. Give me a few minutes though, I’ve got some plates drying.”
“Don’t leave them too long,” Elliot warned with a slight smile. “I’ve made that mistake before.”
Yeah. Same here. “I won’t. Cappy’s?”
“Of course. Unless your idea of lunch is a sandwich from the general store, that is.”
Kaitlyn chuckled. At one point, the idea of going to lunch with Elliot would’ve felt bogged down with all the significance and baggage of an encounter. But now? She’d realized that it was pretty minor, in the grand scheme of things. Is this was Heather feels like all this time?
I’m not trying to get endings right now, but I’m also not being paranoid about avoiding them. It’s honestly been a blessing for my sanity. Being able to treat interactions as just that is… well, it takes a lot off my mind. Maybe this is what a social butterfly like Heather always feels like.
As she watched the guy place his cultures in an incubator and hang up his lab coat, a question bubbled to the surface. “What do you listen to, by the way?”
“Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking in general or right now?”
“In general, I guess?” She frowned. “I just wondered because you’ve always got headphones in.”
“This and that, depends on the day and my mood.” He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Sometimes it’s classical, sometimes country. Right now I’m finishing up a book, actually.”
Huh. Kaitlyn was taken aback. Didn’t expect any of those, honestly.
As if reading her thoughts, he raised an eyebrow. “What did you think I was listening to?”
“I dunno… something more… pop? Punk?”
“Something more like the Dream Lizards?”
She froze, trying to keep up a poker face. Her efforts to control her expression made Elliot chuckle. “So you do know about our band. Figured.”
Dang. he’s perceptive.
“Sorry?” She sent him a sheepish glance. Was I not supposed to know about them? I was just surprised that he brought it up. He’s never mentioned the band since I started joining the lab.
“That’s fine. I actually appreciate you not bringing it up.” He waved a hand. “The band’s just a hobby of mine. I prefer to keep it separate, as much as I can. I haven’t told the lab about it, either. As long as you’re not some psycho groupie who joined the lab just to be near me…”
“Of course not!” Kaitlyn shot him an indignant glare. “I’m here to learn. Besides, you don’t actually have to deal with that stuff, do you?”
He chuckled. “Thankfully, no. Well, not yet at least. We’re certainly not famous enough to warrant anything like that. Plus, if you were a stalker, you’d be doing a pretty poor job of it, anyway. You haven’t followed me back to my dorm once.”
“Wow, you really don’t think much of me, do you?” Kaitlyn crossed her arms. “Like I’d get caught that easily. Maybe I’ll take that as a challenge now.”
The ginger just grinned at her. Actually… I wonder if he actually did notice when I followed him to lab that one time, so many loops ago. He couldn’t have. Right?
Kaitlyn hesitated, but decided to speak anyway. “I do think your music is pretty good though.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t say we’re set to take the world by storm and be the next Tailor Swiffer or Postage Alone exactly. But the guys are a fun bunch to be around. Now, how about those plates? They’re probably dry, no?”
“Right!” Kaitlyn whipped toward the clean hood. “Ok. One second!”
***
Cycle 19 Complete!
Ending: Under the Radar
Total Endings Unlocked: 6
Writing - A (99%)
Calculus - F (0%)
Statistics - F (0%)
Chemistry - A (100%)
Genetics - A (100%)